Labeling machine



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LABELING MACHINE Filed June 27, 1963 18 Sheets-Sheet 15 Apnifi 11, 1967 5 CARTER 3,3335%? LABELING MACHINE Filed June 27, 1963 18 Sheets-Sheet 16 L BM 49 L- M 40 NOMENCLATURE 2 HP DRIVE OM- MAGNETIC sTARTERORIvE MOTOR I MOTOR vM- MAGNETIC sTARTER-vACuuM PUMP MOTOR 3 L3 E 4/ 4/ ITS CR- CONTROL RELAY LS-LIMIT SWITCH LsP-LIMIT SWITCH- PROXIMITY PH-PHOTOELECTRIC EYE LSL-LIMIT SWITCH LIGHT (NE-5|) NFH-NEON LAMPREsIsTOR IsOK OHM-V2 wATT FUSE3 AMP T SVSOLENOID OR vALvE TC-TIME CLOCK OLOVERLOAD L3 (H2) Ll FB- FUSE BLOCK TB- TERMINAL BOARD TRANS- TRANSFORMER I NR-Z-NEON LAMP RESISTOR 200K OHM-l/2WATT F T 3 USE/ Rama) 3 I I E- E% E-7i 312W 4 .6 av JZIQLQG STOP V 5 r (PANEL) (5 ASDION) Lua 3 CR-I TC 3 T ST m START a l L CR-I L 34 hi /.2 Rio g O 2 I (/0464? U 9-1-0 /4 M 5 CR-I OM DM /7 3 5 g 6 g 8 35 2 Y L, VM (L) 22 1 MM ,7 sv-2 23 PH-I I laNR-I LSL'I 24 I 00 A a 2 5. g CR-3 NR-I 4 mm; O

7 24 SCANNER LIGHT sOuRCE s o 1/ /2/a/4 e -o-5 I o 0 L 7 7 F g G. 45 2 Am 3%? s. T. CARTER LABELING MACHINE Filed June 27, 1963 18 Sheets-Sheet 17 United States Patent Ofi ice 3,313,573 Patented Apr. 11, 1967 3,313,673 LABELENG MACHINE Sidney T. Carter, Shrewsbury, Mass, assignor to Geo. J.

Meyer Manufacturing Co., Cudahy, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed June 27, 1963, Ser. No. 291,140 18 Claims. (Ci. 156-566) This invention pertains to labeling machines of the socalled straight-away type wherein articles to be labeled are advanced along a substantially rectilinear path by a conveyor and wherein, as the article to be labeled passes through a label-applying zone, a suction grip device takes a gummed label from a picker, located at one side of the article path, and presses the label into adhering contact with the moving article.

The invention relates more especially to a machine of the above general type, but wherein but a single article is labeled during each cycle of the machine and which is designed with special reference to saving in space.

Objects of the invention are to provide an improved labeling machine of the kind wherein articles, for example bottles, are moved uninterruptedly through a label-receiving zone; which is capable of applying one or a plurality of labels, including front, back, shoulder and neck labels simultaneously; which requires but little attention on the part of the operator; which provides precise label registration; which occupies relatively little floor space as compared with most high production machines, but which is capable of applying labels at a high production rate; to provide a labeling machine having provision for driving it at several different speeds; to provide a machine having automatic means responsive to the rate of supply of articles to the machine thereby to vary its speed and including manually-actuatable means whereby the machine may be shifted from one speed to another at will; to provide automatic means operative to prevent the delivery of labels from the magazine except when articles are approaching the labeling zone; to provide a labeling machine of the kind wherein the article to be labeled is firmly clamped by hold-down means against the conveyor while passing through the labelapplying Zone and wherein the holddown means is vertically adjustable to accommodate articles of different heights; and comprising means for wiping neck labels which is vertically adjustable concomitantly with the adjustment of the hold-down means; to provide a machine of the above type which comprises articleorienting means operative, by engagement with a part of the article to be labeled, to turn the article approximately to the desired position of orientation; and having further means operative thereafter to turn the article to a final and accurate position of orientation and positively to grip and hoid the article in the latter position while concomitantly holding the article so that its axis is accurately perpendicular to the conveyor just before the hold-down device, by contact with the top of the article, clamps the latter firmly to the conveyor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in greater detail in the following description and bv reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a small scale, diagrammatic front elevation illustrative of a machine embodying the present invention, but omitting many of its parts;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic end elevation of the machine of FIG. I, viewed from the left-hand end of the machine;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view showing the general location of certain essential parts, in particular, the article conveyor, the labeling station, the means for spacing the articles and for straightening them, and certain elements of the electrical system;

FIG. 4 is a view generally similar to FIG. 1, but to larger scale, showing more particularly those parts which are located below the table of the machine, including the main shaft and the cams mounted thereon;

FIG. 4a is a fragmentary front elevation, to larger scale than FIG. 4, showing certain of the parts which are located above the table, in particular, the article spacer means, the article-straightening means and the labeling instrumentalities;

FIG. 4b is a fragmentary detail, illustrating one of the control switches;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary diagrammatic section substantially on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5a is a fragmentary view showing the upper righthand portion of FIG. 5, only, but with the parts there illustrated disposed in different relative positions;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4, showing the cam for opening the picker;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section in the same plane as FIG. 5, showing, in detail, the cam for rocking the picker;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary section on the line 88 of FIG. 4a, showing the cam and associated parts for moving the picker and wipers bodily in a longitudinal direction in consonance with the motion of the conveyor;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary section on the line 99 of FIG. 4, showing the cam for actuating the gum transfer roll;

FIG. 9a is a fragmentary front elevation, showing the gum transfer roll and the means for supporting it;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary section on the line 10-10 of FIG. 4a, showing the cam and the rocker devices for actuating the grip-finger assemblies;

FIG. 11 is a small scale front elevation showing one of the rock-shafts upon which the straightener, grip-finger and wiper, at one side of the machine, are mounted;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary vertical section substantially on the line 1212 of FIG. 4a, showing the bottle straightener device engaging a bottle;

FIG. 12a is a fragmentary, small scale, diagrammatic elevation showing'the relation of the bottle-straightening device and the axis of rotation of the guide sprocket for the hold-down belt;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary vertical section substantially on the line 13-13 of FIG. 4a;

FIG. 13a is an elevation showing the article-contacting face of one of the grip-fingers;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary section on the line 14-14 of FIG. 40;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary section on the line 15-15 of FIG. 4a;

FIG. 16 is a plan view, showing certain of the parts illustrated in FIG. 12, as operatively related to a bottle (shown in broken lines);

FIG. 16a is a fragmentary edge view, to larger scale, of one of the bottle-contacting elements of the bottle straightener device;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary plan view showing a suction grip-finger in operative position relatively to a bottle, the latter being indicated in broken lines;

FIG. 18 is a diagrammatic plan view, illustrating one of the wipers shown in FIG. 14, and indicating a bottle in broken lines;

FIG. 19 is a plan view illustrating one of the wipers shown in FIG. 15, and indicating a bottle in broken lines;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary plan view, to larger scale, showing the star wheel for spacing the articles, the primary spotting means, and the secondary spotting and straightening means;

FIG. 21 is a fragmentary elevation of the parts shown in FIG. 20, viewed from the side opposite that at which the star wheel is located and showing, in section, a portion of the rock-shaft on which the wipers are mounted;

FIG. 22 is a fragmentary elevation showing parts of the spotting mechanism viewed from the side at which the star wheel is located;

FIG. 23 is a fragmentary elevation of the parts shown in FIG. 22, viewed from the right-hand side of the latter, showning the rock-shaft in section;

FIG. 24 is a fragmentary plan view showing at spotting dog arranged to engage a tear drop projecting from the bottle;

FIG. 25 is a view similar to FIG. 24, but showing a spotting dog arranged to cooperate with a depressed spotting bar Y FIG. 25a is a fragmentary horizontal section, to larger scale than FIG. 24, showing details of the spotting dog;

FIG. 26 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 26-26 of FIG. 20 and in a plane perpendicular to the article path, showing the rack and pinion by means of which the bottle-spinning discs are turned;

FIG. 27 is a fragmentary vertical section showing the means for driving the endless chain on which the bottlespinning discs are mounted;

FIG. 28 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating means for orienting the bottle to its final position;

FIG. 29 is a small scale, diagrammatic vertical section in substantially the same plane as FIG. 12, showing an orienting device, such as that of FIG. 28, as associated with means engageable with the bottle neck for straightening the bottle;

FIG. 30 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view looking from the left-hand side of FIG. 1, but to larger scale, showing automatic means for stopping the main shaft and certain switches comprised in the electrical system;

FIG. 31 is a fragmentary view at right angles to FIG. 30, showing the pneumatic cylinder whereby the speed of the main shaft may be varied;

FIG. 32 is a small scale vertical section substantially on the line 32-32 of FIG. 20, showing the connections below the table of the machine for driving the primary spotting means;

FIG. 33 is a section, to larger scale, dicular to that of FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is a fragmentary diagrammatic elevation showing the lower part of a bottle and illustrative of the capability of the primary spotting means to cooperate with spotting elements of different types or differently located;

FIG. 35 is an elevation, to small scale, illustrating an attachment which may be mounted upon the support for holddown device so as to be vertically movable with the latter, said attachment comprising wiper brushes for wiping neck labels;

FIG. 36 is a plan view of the attachment shown in FIG. 35;

FIG. 37 is a section, to larger scale, on the line 37-37 of FIG. 35;

FIG. 38 is a section on the line 38-38 of FIG. 35;

FIG. 39 is a section on the line 39 49 of FIG. 35;

FIG. 40 is a fragmentary elevation showing the oil and vacuum pump;

FIG. 41 is a fragmentary elevation showing a portion of the control panel;

FIG. 42 is a fragmentary elevation illustrating certain of the parts within the control panel;

FIGS. 43 and 44 are diagrams illustrating the electrical wiring circuit of the machine; and

FIG. 45 is a time chart illustrating the relative positions of various parts of the machine during a single cyle of operation.

The machine in which the present invention is embodied is, in many respects, similar to the high-capacity machine disclosed in the patent to Carter, No. 2,940,630, dated June 14, 1960, to which reference may be made for details of construction not herein specifically illustrated or described. As in the patented machine, the operative elements are supported by a suitable frame F (FIG. 4) whose design is well within the province of the skilled in a plane perpenmachine builder and which is not herein described except when referred to, incidentally, in describing individual parts of the operative structure. The frame includes a horizontal table T beneath which the motor M (FIGS. 1 and 31), main drive shaft 119 and most of the actuating cams are located. The drive shaft 119 turns through an angle of 360 for each cycle of operation, that is to say, during that sequence of motions of the essential labelapplying devices which includes the application of glue to the icker; removal of a label or labels from a magazine by the picker; the transfer of the label from the picker to a single article by a suction grip-finger; the wiping of the label by a first wiper means; and the return of the picker to its initial position. However, the completion of the wiping by a second wiper means occurs during the succeding cycle.

The machine is designed to receive articles to be labeled (herein referred to for convenience but not by way of limitation as bottles) from a suitable supply and to deliver them, after the labels have been applied, to any desired type of receiver. Since the suppy of articles, at times, may fail to provide articles as fast as the labeling machine can handle them, provision is made, in accordance with the present invention, for automatically varying the speed of the labeling machine to coordinate its operation with other machines with which it is associated. Provision is also made for the manual variation of the speed, and for automatically stopping the conveyor and label-applying instrumentalities in the event of accident.

As diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 3, the machine comprises an endless conveyor C comprising a link chain (FIG. 12), each link of which is provided with a flat plate, usually of steel, these plates, in the upper horizontal run of the conveyor, collectively providing a support on which the articles B rest as they are moved along the article or conveyor path, this type of conveyor being conventional in this art. For confining the articles and steadying them as they move along the article path, appropriate guide rails 102 and 103 (FIGS. 1 and 4) are provided, with provision for adjusting them both horizontally and ventically, as is customary in apparatus of this type, to accommodate articles of different dimensions. At the left-hand end of the machine (FIG. 4), a horizontal shaft 10 4 carries a guide sprocket about which the chain 100 passes; while at the right-hand end of the machine the chain passes about a drive sprocket 105 mounted on a shaft 106 which is driven by a sprocket chain passing about a sprocket on the output shaft of a speed-reducing mechanism 106x. The upper run of the chain rests upon support 100a (FIG. 12) of conventional type whereby said upper run is kept horizontal. The input shaft of the speed-reducing machanism 506x is driven by suitable gearing (not shown) from the main shaft 119 and the latter shaft is driven by suitable speedreducing mechanism R whose input shaft 20 is driven by the electric motor M ('FIGS. 4 and 30), by means of an endless belt 22 (FIG. 31) which is variably tensioned by 'a pulley 25 whose position depends upon the pressure of air within a cylinder 29. A hand wheel W (FIG. 30) on the input shaft of the speed-reducer =R permits the manual turning of the main shaft l -19 when the motor M is de-energized thereby to facilitate the adjustment of parts of the machine. Means for controlling the admission of air to and its exhaust from the cylinder 29 will be described hereinafter.

The drive for shaft 20 (FIG. 30) is of the so-called Reeves type such that, by varying the tension of the belt 22, the speed of the shaft 20 may be varied. Such variation in the tension of the belt is accomplished by motion of the pulley 25 in response to the admission or release of air from the cylinder 2?. Admission of air to this cylinder has the effect of decreasing the speed of the shaft '20.

The machine comprises a vacuum pump VP (FIG. 40) with associated drive motor M and air-controlling valves 

1. A LABELING MACHINE OF THE KIND WHEREIN BOTTLES TO BE LABELED ARE ADVANCED UNINTERRUPTEDLY BY A CONVEYOR ALONG A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTILINEAR PATH INTO AND THROUGH A LABELRECEIVING ZONE, AND WHEREIN, WHILE THE BOTTLE IS PASSING THROUGH THE LABEL-RECEIVING ZONE, IT IS PREVENTED FROM TURNING BY A HOLD-DOWN DEVICE OF THE ENDLESS BAND TYPE, AND WHEREIN SPACER MEANS, ACTING IN EXACT TIME, RELATIVELY TO THE MOTION OF THE CONVEYOR, DISPOSES BOTTLES IN UNIFORMLY SPACED RELATION AS THEY APPROACH THE LABEL-RECEIVING ZONE, AND WHEREIN A GRIP-FINGER, WITHIN THE LVWLRECEIVING ZONE, IS OPERATIVE TO TAKE A LABEL FROM A PICKER AND APPLY IT TO THE BOTTLE; PRESSER MEANS WITH THE LABELRECEIVING ZONE FOR PRESSING THE LABEL INTO FIRM ADHERING CONTACT WITH THE BOTTLE, AND PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SPOTTING MEANS OPERATIVE ACCURATELY TO ORIENT THE BOTTLE JUST BEFORE IT IS ENGAGED BY THE HOLD-DOWN DEVICE, CHARACERIZED IN THAT THE PRIMARY SPOTTING MEANS COMPRISES ENDLESS CHAINS DISPOSED AT OPPOSITE SIDES, RESPECTIVELY, OF THE CONVEYOR PATH, EACH OF SAID CHAINS HAVING A RUN WHICH IS PARALLEL TO THE CONVEYOR PATH, MEANS FOR SO DRIVING SAID CHAINS THAT SAID RUNS MOVE IN THE SAME DIRECTION AND AT THE SAME LINEAR SPEED AS THE CONVEYOR, ONE OF SAID CHAINS SUPPORTING A SERIES OF SPACED, INDEPENDENTLY ROTATABLE BOTTLE-CONTACTING ROLLS, AND MEANS FOR TURNING SAID ROLLS WHILE IN CONTACT WITH THE PERIPHERY OF THE BOTTLE THEREBY TO TURN THE BOTTLE ABOUT ITS OWN AXIS, AS THE BOTTLE IS ADVANCED BY HE CONVEYOR, AND THE OTHER CHAIN HAVING SPACED ELEMENTS OPERATIVE, BY ENGAGEMENT WITH A SPOTTING ELEMENT FORMING A PART OF THE BOTTLE, TO TERMINATE ROTATION OF THE BOTTLE WHILE PERMITTING THE BOTTLE TO CONTINUE TO ADVANCE THROUGH THE LABEL-RECEIVING ZONE. 